By;: Mitch Hutchcraft, The News Press
Without question, Everglades restoration projects benefit all South Florida families because our way of life is so intimately connected to a healthy, vibrant ecosystem. The master blueprint for this unprecedented effort is called the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Each project in CERP was purposefully designed and timed to provide the optimal sequence of restoration to achieve success.
Speaking as your South Florida Water Management District Governing Board representative on the Southwest coast, I can tell you our time is now. Our project is the C-43 West Basin Storage Reservoir that will store water for the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary. The 10,700-acre facility, which is currently in construction, can store 170,000 acre-feet of water when there is too much flowing to the river and supply water when it’s too dry, as we are seeing today. This flexibility helps restore and maintain the ecological health of the river and estuary…